Solving Time: About 35 minutes but I felt sluggish; I don’t think this really is a terribly difficult crossword. It is well-crafted though, and I much enjoyed it. it has some very slick surface readings.
I had this blog all done and ready to post by 1.30am, but couldn’t get the Livejournal website to respond until now.. sorry!
cd = cryptic definition, dd = double definition, rev = reversed, anagrams are *(–).
ODO means the Oxford Dictionaries Online
Across | |
---|---|
1 | half-board – inflexible = HARD containing L + F + BOA. Referring to pension as in demi-pension.. |
6 | assam – tricky, this: “Mum has” = MA’S, it (= sex appeal) = SA, all rev. Assam has the distinction of being the only place in the world outside Southern China to which tea is a native plant. |
9 | seminar – *(REMAINS). A very neat clue |
10 | crouton – another one I found hard to parse: *(CORN) containing available = OUT |
11 |
yea – YEA( |
12 | discordance – DISCO + DANCE containing R |
14 |
grouch – GROU( |
15 |
baluster – *(LATE BUS) + ( |
17 |
assailer – most of state = ASSER( |
19 | blimey – BY containing LIME. Raised a smile, of sorts |
22 | showerproof – SHOP ROOF containing WE + R |
23 |
nob – “Turned against” = ON rev, + B( |
25 | slipper – dd, a reference to the footwear sort of mule |
27 |
earlies – ( |
28 |
pagan – P( |
29 |
started on – STAR + TE( |
Down | |
1 | hussy – HUSS + Y. |
2 | lumbago – O GAUL rev., containing doctor = MB. I suppose “checked” works as a containment indicator, more or less |
3 | Benedictine – BE + NINE containing order = EDICT. Another very neat surface reading. In the (highly unlikely) event of my ever taking holy orders, one that specialises in producing alcoholic drinks would definitely be my choice |
4 | hidden: seek & ye shall find |
5 | doctoral – “docked” = DOCT + ORAL |
6 | ado – sAw DuO |
7 |
satinet – SAT + IN + E( |
8 |
Monterrey – assets = MONEY containing TERR( |
13 | double first – DOUBT containing *(LIFERS). |
14 | grasses up – greens = GRASSES, dearer = UP. A slang term for betray, commonly used by the lower sort of criminals, M’lud |
16 | Hesperus – HE’S PERU’S.. Hesperus is the “Evening Star” but is not in fact a star at all, but refers to the planet Venus. And he should not be confused with his brother Phosphorus. No, really. Look at the link. |
18 | sloping – tramp = SLOG containing leg = PIN. Another late one in, I was sure it must have leg = ON in there, somewhere. No cricket references today! |
20 | mankind – MAD containing N + KIN |
21 | bodega – AGE + DOB (date of birth) rev. A bodega I always think of as a store or warehouse but it can be a shop too |
24 |
bison – BON( |
26 |
pen – explicit = ( |
Experienced the same problem as reported yesterday, no checked date on home page but available on the last checked date, strange!
http://times-xwd-times.livejournal.com/calendar
Seems to be a more accurate reflection of what’s up (or not) at any time.
In other words to access today’s blog I have to click on yesterday and then click on today.
I was annoyed not to think of BODEGA; it usually comes with a reference to wine in which case I’d have been onto it immediately.
My last understood was SLOPING where I also wasted time trying to accommodate ON and then wondering if ‘L’ was a legitimate abbreviation for ‘leg’ (as in ‘Leg Before Wicket’) and if so, how SOPING could possibly = ‘tramp’. Failure to spot how this clue worked left me with some doubts about the validity of my solution as ‘move aimlessly’ is not a meaning of ‘slope’ that I was aware of. Any sloping off I have ever done in my life was always with the specific aim of getting away from something I wanted no part of without drawing attention to myself.
Did anyone else’s grey squares print with a blue tinge today?
Edited at 2012-09-19 06:33 am (UTC)
A very famous book (admittedly in a fairly small circle) is Cruden’s Concordance. The man allegedly drove himself mad indexing every word in the Authorised Version of the Bible. It was amusing (at least to someone who found the Shortbread Eating Primer amusing) to see CROUTON and DISCORDANCE in close proximity.
CoD to HESPERUS ahead of BLIMEY
2 [no object, with adverbial of direction] British informal: move in an idle or aimless manner: I had seen Don sloping about the beach.
And that was good enough for me. But this was a bit of a fight. Even the light-inclusive at 4dn was hard to find!
Edited at 2012-09-19 08:33 am (UTC)
BODEGA and EARLIES were my last in, and took a few minutes. Eventually I thought of “DOB” and that unlocked it. I only knew the potatoes from a past puzzle.
Exactly the same problems as Jack with SLOPING.
Good puzzle I thought with some excellent surface readings.
SLOPING: I can still hear my father telling me “Don’t get sloping off” while I was supposed to be helping him with the weeding.
BENEDICTINE. There are parts of East Lancashire where sales of this liqueur are well above the national average. It is thought to be a legacy of the First World War, when soldiers joining, say, the Accrington Pals developed a taste for the stuff in France. I am told you can still order “Benny & Hot” (Benedictine and hot water) in Burnley pubs and clubs. Those who don’t like it have thought up some fanciful (and unprintable) interpretations of the letters D.O.M. that appear on each bottle.
MONTERREY I’m another who thought it was spelt Monterey, but then most of my knowledge of such places comes from American popular music.
FOI Pen. Benedictine and Hesperus from wordplay. Thought Seminar and Bodega were particularly good. Not sure I’d have got Nob if it hadn’t been part of the wordplay in a clue last week.
The above anonymous is me
Like many others it took me a while to shake the conviction that 18 had to have “on” in there somewhere. Crouton from def and checkers alone so thanks to Jerry for the explanation.
Re Benedictine: Burnley Miners’ Club is the world’s most prolific consumer of the stuff. Our Legal Director hails from those parts and usually brings in a bottle at Christmas so we can “enjoy” the “delights” of the aforementioned Benny and hot, which he also consumes at Turf Moor.
I stuck on EARLIES/BODEGA for a while, and was quite relieved when they eventually fell.
I didn’t know that meaning of SLOPING: I’ve always thought of “sloping off” as being furtive but deliberate (rather than aimless).